A Win For Todd Bowles
January 26th, 2026
The streak is broken!
It’s been seven years since a defense-first head coach has been in the Super Bowl — Bill Belicheat in 2019. And now there will be two in the Super Bowl next month.
Joe wrote about this possibility previously, but it’s worth mentioning since Tampa Bay’s head man is a defense-first guy. Mike Macdonald (Seahawks) and Mike Vrabel (Patriots) will square off in the big game. That’s sort of a win for Todd Bowles.
The NFL is a trend kind of league and one trend has seen owners chasing and clinging to offense-first head coaches. That’s about to change a little bit.
Those in the anti-Bowles camp might even say it’s now more likely that the Bucs move on from Bowles next year with Sean McDermott or Mike Tomlin, both defense-first head coaches.
Regardless, the Bucs defense needs to make a significant improvement in 2026. It can’t get much worse. Having a defense-first head coach with a consistently poor defense is a tough situation for fans to comprehend.